I. Field of the Invention
The present invention pertains generally to text-based communications, and more specifically to providing a method and apparatus for automatically entering information into pre-formatted messages in a communication terminal.
II. Description of the Related Art
Mobile communications play an important part in many businesses today. Typically, such communications allow voice, text, and/or data to be wirelessly transmitted to remote destinations pertinent to the particular business. For example, in the transportation industry, trucking companies have used satellite communications for many years in order to track and communicate with their respective trucks. Satellite communications provide ubiquitous coverage so that vehicles in even remote areas of the world can communicate with their respective dispatch centers. One drawback of satellite communication systems, however, is that it is often expensive compared to other types of wireless communications, such as cellular telephones, for example.
In a text-based messaging system, the cost of satellite communications may be reduced by decreasing the length of messages, thereby reducing the amount of information transmitted. One method for reducing message lengths is to use predefined messages, also known as formatted messages or “macro” messages. In such a method, text messages are assigned a message identification code which identify each message as conforming to a predefined format. For example, a first message may be defined, having a message identification code of “1”, comprising a first information field indicating a destination for picking up a shipment and a second information field indicating the expected date and time of the pickup. This message may be transmitted, for example, from a central dispatch station to a truck owned by a business entity associated with the dispatch station. A definition of this message is stored in a memory within a mobile communication terminal located on the truck.
When this message is transmitted by the dispatch station, only the message identification number, the pickup destination, and the expected date and time of arrival are transmitted, generally separated from each other by some predefined information sequence. When the message is received by the truck, the mobile communication terminal determines that a message having a message identification number of “1” has been received. Then, the predefined definition of formatted message “1” is used to “decode” the message. For example, the predefined definition for messages having a message identification code of “1”, in this example, indicates that the first information field represents a destination and that the second information field represents a date and time. Consequently, this message may be presented to a vehicle operator in using an output device, such as a computer monitor, Cathode Ray Tube (CRT), plasma display, etc.
The vehicle operator may respond to the message at a subsequent time. For example, in the present example, the vehicle operator may respond to the message when the vehicle has arrived at the destination in order to alert the dispatch center of the vehicle arrival. As such, the vehicle operator typically requests that a response message be transmitted, the response message comprising a message identification code and one or more information fields. In the present example, the vehicle operator might select the received message as a message to respond to and in response to the selection, a response message is generated and displayed to the vehicle operator. The response message generally comprises a number of information fields, such as a field for indicating the intended recipient of the response message, a field for indicating who the response message is from, a field indicating the present location of the vehicle, and a bill-of-lading number or some other number which references the goods to be picked up at the given destination.
The vehicle operator uses an input device such as a keyboard or a touchscreen, so enter information into the various fields of the response message, including recipient, vehicle or vehicle operator identification, vehicle location, and bill-of-lading number. Frequently, information from the message must be entered into the response message, requiring the vehicle operator to remember the information, and then to type it correctly into the response message. The response message is then transmitted to the dispatch center.
One problem with the present method of sending a response message is that frequently, information is entered incorrectly into one or more of the various information fields. This may result in additional messaging costs as the dispatch center may need to query the vehicle operator for the correct information. In addition, manually entering information into response messages is often a slow process, delaying the vehicle operator from transporting the goods as quickly as possible.
What is needed is a method and apparatus for allowing information to be entered quickly into such response messages to minimize the chances of error and to reduce the vehicle operator's time spent sending response messages.